Subaru Repair: 98 subaru with smoke, subaru forrester, excess steam

Question
QUESTION: I have recently purchased a 98 subaru forrester with 68K miles. it came with
the check engine light on but I was assured by my uncle who sold it to me
that it had had a lot of repairs and was fine. And it was for almost a week and
900 miles. I drove it on a hot day from Ohio to NYC and then on a rainy to
Maine with no incedent. Now that I have been using it daily (roughly 25 miles
on the highway), it jerks slightly when I put my foot on the gas and is
sluggish with acceleration. Then I arrived home today and found a small
amount of smoke coming from the front of my engine. The gauge indicated
that it had not overheated and I did not notice a leak. Please help me I just
bought it!

ANSWER: The smoke from the front of the engine is most likely an oil leak ,leaking onto the exhaust.The sluggish performance is most likely related to an ignored or misdiagnosed check engine light.The check engine light comes on whenever the computer sees a problem and should not be ignored.I hope that helps

Justin
All Wheel Drive Auto

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your help, I have a quick follow up question. I heard that smoke
from an oil leak is usually blue or black. this smoke is white or grey, does
that matter?

Answer
Smoke out of the Tail pipe will be bluish in color when related to oil.Black when related to overfueling/rich condition,white in color when related to raw fuel,coolant,or excess steam coming out of the combustion chamber.Smoke coming from the engine externally and hitting the outside of the exhaust rather than coming Out of the tailpipe will vary depending on the substance leaking onto the exhaust but will usually be grey to white in color. I hope this explanation makes sense to you and helps you understand a little better.

Justin
All Wheel Drive Auto